Review: Invention Of Theater -- Otterbein Summer Theatre

    "The Invention Of Theater" by neophyte playwright and Otterbein Theater alumnus Sean Murphy, intends to be a light-hearted, fun-filled demonstration of all the things that go into making theater.  It includes an in-depth examination of actors’ preparation, the nuances of line delivery and character motivation, the effect of adding props, lights and other elements to create the sense of time and place. It also traces some theater history with brief mentions of various eras and styles including Greek tragedy, Shakespeare and the Elizabethan era, Neil Simon, Tennessee Wiliams’ “Streetcar Named Desire”, and a contemporary punk rock musical complete with gore and violence.  Along the way producer complications get layered in with an eye on the mighty dollar. 

   The acting from Benjamin Folts, Grace Hoover, Evan Moore-Coll and Steven Meeker is excellent. The stagecraft is minimal with some cute costumes, a few pieces of furniture and some screen projections.

     The premise is charming.  There are some great lines, laugh-out-loud comedy routines and compelling moments.  But it’s a choppy, episodic piece that goes on for 90 minutes, repeating the same story and lines for what seemed like 90 iterations. I was ready to leave within the first fifteen minutes, especially with the hot, humid conditions created by poor air-conditioning.

  As I understand the situation, it began as a short workshop piece when Murphy was a student and, at Director Melissa Lusher's suggestion with concurrence from Otterbein Summer theater Director John Stefano and the rest of the staff, Murphy expanded it to its current 90-minute format. It should have remained as a 30-minute one-act workshop or classroom project.  I  think it is a poor choice for a main stage production during the 50th anniversary celebration of Otterbein Summer theater where folks are paying $25 or more per ticket.  

Review: 1940's Radio Hour -- State of The Arts Productions (SOARTSPRO)

“1940’s Radio Hour” depicts a live radio production at Christmas time in 1942.  It celebrates the music and the culture of the time against the backdrop of WW II.  The script leaves lots of room for ad lib which is where much of the character development takes place.  State Of The Arts Productions current Columbus rendering dishes out a bit too much ad lib with little payoff as actors seem to be doing their own thing much of the time, becoming caricatures and often distracting from the central focus of the radio show and the music.

  My previous experiences with this show had it as a brisk two-act production that unfolded in less than two hours with the intermission.  SOARTSPRO elects to do it as a one-act in the spirit of the one-hour radio program.  The ad-libs at the beginning, the extensive build-up prior to going on the air, coupled with the slow pacing, and the anti-climatic farewells among the cast and crew after the show goes off the air, stretches this to a tedious two hours.  James Blackmon directs and plays the key role of Johnny, which might be part of the problem. Things like relationship development, pacing, blocking and ensemble seem to have gotten lost. Blackmon’s characterization as the lead singer is sparse and uneven. 

   Part of the success for this play lies in how well the songs are rendered.  Blackmon, Cassie Gress (Ginger), Clara Livingston (Connie), Brian Gray (Neal), David Rausch (B.J.),  Syretta Bates (Geneva), Bobby Peaks (Biff) Lauren Bandman (Ann) can all sing well enough, but they are often overpowered by the band.  The poor sound mix doesn't help.  

   The beauty of a piece like this is that it can be very effective when the staging is simplified.  This production has too much furniture and too many people wandering around doing their own side-bits, drawing focus away from the action of the radio broadcast. 

  The program lists several costumers who all got it wrong when it came to the uniform for the soldier who is dressed as a 1990’s-era enlisted man when he is supposed to be an officer in the army of the 1940’s.  How hard could it be to come up with khaki pants and long-sleeved khaki shirt with a couple lieutenant bars?  This is just one indication of the sloppy, slip-shod way this show seems to have been thrown together.  

   For years, I have been longing for someone to bring this sweet script back to the Columbus stage, but I was hoping for something better than this.  I have seen family back yard shows with stronger production values.

Review: Brighton Beach Memoirs - Otterbein Summer Theater

  Neil Simon’s brilliant dialog and wonderful sense of humor sparkle in the hands of Director Lenny Liebowitz and his outstanding student cast as Otterbein Summer Theater opens its 50^th anniversary season with “Brighton Beach Memoirs”.   Jordan Wood has wonderful comic timing, outstanding gestures, fabulous facial expression and a true gift for physical comedy as Eugene, a typical New York City Jewish teenager embarking upon the discovery of everything sexual with the help of his older brother Stanley, played with wonderful nuance and steady consistency by Max Bartel.  Aubree Tally has perfected the attitude and tone of the stereotypical Jewish mother, Kate.  Supporting cast members Daria Redus (Blanche), Abigail Isom (Laurie) Kara Jobe (Nora) and Jack Labrecque (Jack) all have their special moments, mining the depth and breadth of Simon’s rich characters. 

   The script was written to be delivered on a large proscenium style stage.  Cramming it onto the smallish three-quarter thrust area of the Fritsche Theater stage that Otterbein Summer Theatre now calls home, just doesn’t work very well.  Rob Johnson’s set design does the best it can with the limited space, but the bedrooms don’t have any room for beds.  There is not enough room on stage for a table with chairs plus the living room furniture.  Consequently, the dinner scene is people sitting on chairs in a rectangular formation and miming eating dinner.  The cast does as good a job as any acting group would with this kind of situation, but it just doesn’t work very well for my taste. 

   Lighting in this limited setting has similar challenges.

    Rebecca White’s costumes are period appropriate and quite effective, especially Eugene’s knickers with vest and ball cap.

    Overall, I enjoyed the show because of the brilliant acting and line delivery of Neil Simon’s witty prose.